


Throw Your Phone Away

by LassieLowrider



Series: COC2019 [10]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: (there will be a sequel. sometime.), Disabled Character, Gen, Wrong number
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21674368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LassieLowrider/pseuds/LassieLowrider
Summary: And you might just find happinessor: Dev doesn't really mind losing his phone and all his saved numbers anymore
Series: COC2019 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553869
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	Throw Your Phone Away

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for COC2019 day 10: Side characters.
> 
> I own nothing.

**Dev**

Waking up to a text from a number I didn’t recognise had rather become the norm ever since I managed to drop my phone in the river. Old phone, should be said, and with it I dropped pretty much every connection I had ever made - I did have a few Facebook friends, but who even uses Facebook anymore? 

No, it was just time to face facts when I did drop my phone in the river: fresh start, hopefully with no contacts named  _ Pissy guy w/ the red shirt _ , who was obviously different from the  _ Pissy guy w/ the striped shirt _ , or at least so I assumed. I can’t imagine I’d saved the number of the same guy at different times, but I wouldn’t be entirely surprised either.

Anyway, the day that marked the start of the rest of my life began with a text from an unknown number.

**Unknown**   
(06:37am) i can’t believe this guy?   
(06:38am) he’s telling me i can’t sit on the disabled spots on the tube bc i’m not ‘disabled’   
(06:38am) i’m gonna throw my mf foot at this sob if he doesn’t quiet down right tf now

Apparently, someone was going to get a foot thrown at them on the London Underground, which they probably deserved, but who was telling  _ me  _ about it? As far as I knew I had no one in my contact list, current or former, that had a prosthetic foot - unless one of the pissy guys did, but they wouldn’t text me anyway.

The weird thing was that the person kept texting me throughout the day?

**Unknown**   
(10:12am) apparently i’m eating a poke bowl for lunch w mandy @ econ   
(10:12am) what is a poke bowl?   
(10:12am) what have i signed up to eat

(01:58pm) i ate the poke bowl   
(01:59pm) and since i have now branched out from my usual feed rob @ it decided i need to eat a croissant   
(02:00pm) i don’t eat bread

(03:42pm) did u drop ur phone again u asshole

I honestly really liked reading the text - not to be a dramatic and depressive gay, but it did feel like having genuine friends. It did however dawn on me - eventually - that maybe whoever  **Unknown** was, they wouldn’t appreciate telling a complete stranger about their experiences with public transport discrimination.

**Me**   
(03:54pm) Like, sorry dude, but I don’t think you’re texting who you think you’re texting.   
(03:54pm) But did you throw your foot at the discriminatory asshole on the tube?   
(03:55pm) And also how can you be working in London (I presume) and NOT have had a poke bowl yet? They’re all the rage.

When the three dots signalling the other person writing a text appeared, well, I did kind of. Throw the phone away? I can see why my other phone ended up in the river, honestly. Shortly after my shriek and throw routine, it started vibrating, which left me sitting on the other side of the bed, staring wide-eyed at it.

Once it had stopped the intermittent vibrations hinting at someone both double  _ and  _ triple texting, I finally dared to pick it up and open the texts.

**Unknown**   
(03:56pm) o fck i’m sorry dude i thought u were my mate   
(03:56pm) the spelling and also grammar proves u’re not if u wonder   
(03:57pm) nah i didn’t but i told him to sit down n shut up if he didn’t want to end up singlefooted   
(03:58pm) like me   
(03:59pm) i did eat a poke bowl and i liked it i guess   
(04:00pm) n don’t ask bc idk but somehow    
(04:01pm) also hi i’m niall soz for texting u outta the blue like this

This was one of the longest interactions I’d had with anyone for quite a while, and talking to someone - even via text - who didn’t immediately drain all my energy was… unusual, but made me quite happy.

**Me** **  
** (04:05pm) Hello Niall, I’m Dev. I don’t mind you texting to be honest, I don’t get a lot of texts.

**Niall** **  
** (04:06pm) o fck real time convos happening!!    
(04:06pm) but real talk why would u even reply to a number u don’t have saved

**Me** **  
** (04:10pm) I may have thrown my phone in the river not that long ago - mostly unintentionally - and since I had neglected to have a backup made, well. Hello empty phonebook of no names? 

**Niall** **  
** (04:11pm) how do u accidentally on purpose throw ur phone in the river

**Me** **  
** (04:12pm) Well. It might be that your ex-boyfriend texts you and because you don’t want to face that you throw the phone away from you, forgetting you’re on the bank of the river Thames? 

**Niall**   
(04:13pm) that’s amazing and u’re everything i aspire to be

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't threatened to throw my foot at someone, but one day I will beat someone around the head with a crutch (or two)
> 
> I started this at 9pm and am posting it at 10:10 pm


End file.
